Pre-employment processes

Right To Work checks

The University has a legal responsibility to ensure that all its workers have the legal right to work in the UK before they start work. 

Use the appropriate list below to select the type of document you have to find out how you can evidence your right to work in the UK.

For University of Sheffield student casual workers

eVisa/Biometric Residence Permit holders

Type of check: Home Office online check

1. Generate a Share Code which you can obtain from the gov.uk ‘Prove your right to work to an employer: get a share code’ web pages.
2. Email your Share Code and date of birth to studentjobshop@sheffield.ac.uk - we will be unable to carry out your check without this.

Please choose the method which enables you to complete the check most efficiently.

• Virtual: Using your University of Sheffield student email address, book a virtual appointment with the Student Jobshop Team. Your Right To Work check is not complete until you have attended this appointment.
• In person: You do not need an appointment, just visit the Employability & Placements Hub in the Students Union (Level 3) between 10am and 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, to complete your Right to Work check.

Important: You will be unable to start work until you have attended this appointment to complete your right to work check.

Current/Valid British or Irish passport

Type of check: Digital identity document validation technology (IDVT) online check

Accessibility Statement for Yoti

Please choose the method which enables you to complete the check most efficiently.

Option one:

• Using your University of Sheffield student email address, book a virtual right to work appointment with the Student Jobshop Team.  
• Please do not book an appointment if you do not have an offer of work via myJobshop.
• If there are no appointment slots available before you’re due to start working, please use Option two below.
• Once you have booked your appointment, the Student Jobshop will email you with instructions on how to undertake your right to work check. This email will include a secure link to the Yoti portal to enable you to undertake this type of check (Yoti is our Identification Verification Technology (IDVT) provider).
• Follow the email instructions on how to use the Yoti portal, which will ask you to use your smartphone or computer to undertake the two steps:
  1. Capture an image of your ID document (your valid British or Irish Passport).
  2. Take a quick scan of your face. 
• Attend your scheduled right to work appointment to enable the Student Jobshop to verify your check. 

Option two:

Bring your original document (not a copy) in person to the SU Employability & Placements Hub (formally the Student Jobshop) in the Students Union (Level 3), along with your student UCard, to enable the team to complete your Right To Work check.

The Hub is open 10am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday (except in August when it is only open Tuesday to Thursday). No appointment booking is required.

If you are unable to undertake option one or two, please contact the SU Employability & Placements Hub team:

Tel: +44 114 222 0941

Email: studentjobshop@sheffield.ac.uk 

Important: You will be unable to start work until you have completed your right to work check.

Other documents

Type of check: Manual/In-person check

We are only able to accept certain documents approved by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) for a manual/in-person check.  Here are some example documents that are acceptable for this type of check:

• An expired British or Irish passport (or passport card).  Please note a clipped passport is a cancelled document and therefore is not acceptable proof of right to work.
• A birth or adoption certificate issued in the UK, Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland together with an official document giving your permanent National Insurance Number and name issued by a Government agency or previous employer.
• A current passport endorsed to show that the holder is allowed to stay in the UK and is currently allowed to do the type of work in question.

Find the full lists of acceptable documents below.

Important: Any document used to evidence your right to work in the UK should be the original and not a copy:

Checklist A: acceptable documents to establish permission to work in the UK with no restrictions.

Checklist B: acceptable documents to establish permission to work in the UK with limitations.

What you will need to do:

1. Check you have an acceptable document for a manual/in-person check using checklist A or B.
2. Bring your original document in person to the Student Jobshop located in the Careers and Skills Hub in the Students Union, before your expected start date.
3. If the documents are in different names bring an additional document to explain the reason for this, for example, a marriage certificate, deed poll.

Important: You will be unable to start work until you have presented your right to work documentation.

What the Student Jobshop Team will do:

• Meet with you in person to undertake your right to work check.
• Take a scan of your original document.

For all other candidates

eVisa/Biometric Residence Permit holders

Type of check: Home Office online check

What you will need to do:

1. Generate a ‘share code’ which you can obtain from the gov.uk ‘Prove your right to work to an employer: get a share code’ web pages.
2. Email the share code and your date of birth to your department contact.
3. You will then be asked to meet with your department contact (in person or virtually) to verify your right to work check.

What your school/department* will do:

• Once your school/department has your share code and date of birth, it will generate your right to work check from the Home Office ‘check a job applicants right to work’ web pages.
• Your school/department will then arrange to meet with you (in person or via video link) to verify your right to work check.

*If you are a student casual worker, your right to work check will be undertaken by the Student Jobshop.

Current/Valid British or Irish passport

Type of check: Digital identity document validation technology (IDVT) online check

Accessibility Statement for Yoti

What you will need to do:

• Once you have confirmed with your department contact that you will need an IDVT Online Check, they will email you with instructions on how to undertake your right to work check. This email will include a secure link to the Yoti portal to enable you to undertake this type of check (Yoti is our Identification Verification Technology (IDVT) provider).
• You may receive an email directly from Yoti (noreply@verify.yoti.com) titled "The University of Sheffield would like to confirm your identity" and this email will contain a link to complete this check online.
• Follow the email instructions on how to use the Yoti portal, which will ask you to use your smartphone or computer to undertake the two steps;
  1. Capture an image of your ID document (your valid British or Irish Passport).
  2. Take a quick scan of your face.
• You will then be asked to meet with your department contact (in person or virtually) to verify your right to work check.

What your school/department* will do:

• Send you an email with instructions on how to undertake your right to work check, including a secure link to the Yoti portal.
• Your department will then arrange to meet with you (in person or via video link) to verify your right to work check.

*If you are a student casual worker, your right to work check will be undertaken by the Student Jobshop.

Other documents

Type of check: Manual/In-person check

We are only able to accept certain documents approved by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) for a manual/in-person check.  Here are some example documents that are acceptable for this type of check:

• An expired British or Irish passport (or passport card). Please note a clipped passport is a cancelled document and therefore is not acceptable proof of right to work.
• A birth or adoption certificate issued in the UK, Channel Islands, the Isle of Man or Ireland together with an official document giving your permanent National Insurance Number and name issued by a Government agency or previous employer.
• A current passport endorsed to show that the holder is allowed to stay in the UK and is currently allowed to do the type of work in question.

Find the full lists of acceptable documents below.

Important: Any document used to evidence your right to work in the UK should be the original and not a copy:

Checklist A: acceptable documents to establish permission to work in the UK with no restrictions.

Checklist B: acceptable documents to establish permission to work in the UK with limitations.

What you will need to do:

1. Check you have an acceptable document for a manual/in-person check using checklist A or B.
2. Bring your original document in person to your department.
3. If the documents are in different names bring an additional document to explain the reason for this, for example, a marriage certificate, deed poll.

What your school/department* will do:

1. Arrange to meet with you in person to undertake your right to work check.
2. Take a scan of your original document.

*If you are a student casual worker, your right to work check will be undertaken by the Student Jobshop.

Criminal Records

Possession of a criminal record is not an automatic bar to employment at the University of Sheffield. We recognise the value of steady employment in the rehabilitation process and examine each case in its own right.

All applicants will routinely be asked to provide details of current convictions and information about spent convictions will only be sought for jobs which have been identified as exceptions to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 due to the nature of the work involved. This type of job will also normally be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and this will be specified within the About the Job.

Please note that for some posts a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be required for the appointee, which will be outlined on the Job Description.  If this is the case, we encourage applicants to provide details of any criminal offences, that are not protected by the act, at an early stage in the application process.

As such, if you have any unspent or spent convictions or cautions that are not protected and are invited to interview for this post, you are required to provide details of those convictions in confidence in advance of the interview.

Applicants should provide details via email to the Deputy Director of HR, Mr Robert Gower, at r.c.gower@sheffield.ac.uk. Along with details of the conviction, please also include the job reference number, job title and the name of the department in which the role is based. This information will be treated as strictly confidential and will only be considered if you are invited to interview for the post.

If you fail to accurately disclose information about your criminal record status, this may lead to an offer of employment being withdrawn. Any offer of appointment will be subject to the University being satisfied with the outcome of the check, in accordance with our Policy on the Recruitment and Employment of Ex-Offenders.

Some roles may also require a more enhanced DBS check if working with children or vulnerable adults, which will be indicated on the job description.

If you have been barred from working with children or vulnerable adults by the Disclosure and Barring Service, it is a criminal offence to apply for a post involving regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults.  Regulated activity involves contact of a specified nature.